Wings of a Hero
by Mienai Ao
Summary: AU Suddenly thrown into the human world, the angel Shintaro first meets the human child named Ayano along with many others. It is only the beginning of his new life in the human world.


Barely anyone went near the forest near the outskirts of the city. Rumors of a monster living deep among the trees had kept many away in fear. And yet, though she knew the rumors, a single child approached the forest without a trace of fear. On her back was a white backpack with red flowers covering it.

The small girl only walked a short distance through the forest, stopping at a place that was hidden from human eyes, where a makeshift tent had been made days ago. It was not anything fancy. It was just an old, unused blanket draped on the branches of two trees. It was just enough to shelter its occupant from the rain and sun.

The girl walked under the blanket to see a boy, looking to be in his older teens, sitting in a foldable chair that she managed to take out without anyone noticing. The boy had been lost in thought, eyes out of focus, but once Ayano entered, he turned to look at her with attentive black eyes.

"H-hi again," she greeted, mentally berating herself for stuttering. "How are you today?"

The boy quietly stared at her, making her uncomfortable, before finally answering. "It's not as painful as it was before."

Instantly, all the discomfort was washed away, replaced with relief and joy. "Really? That's great!"

The boy sighed as he watched the girl take out medical supplies from her backpack, all of which were removed from the first aid kit in her house. He then took off the white t-shirt he wore—also taken from her house—revealing the bandages wrapped around his torso. The girl took off the bandages and examined the wounds on his back.

"Is it really okay?" she asked. "They still look painful."

"They're fine. Don't worry about them," the boy replied, wincing when the swab wet with antiseptic touched a wound.

"Are you—"

"Yes," he replied quickly. "The antiseptic just stings a bit. That's all."

The girl believed him easily.

Half an hour later, the boy's wounds were redressed and his shirt was back on. The girl put the backpack back on. Before leaving, she turned back to the boy, asking if he needed anything else. He declined her help.

"Then I'll see you tomorrow!"

**^i^**

After watching the girl leave, the boy sighed again. He lifted one arm and winced before the elbow could even go above his shoulder. He was lying to the birl when he said he was not in pain. It had been two weeks since the two first met. The girl's curiosity led her to investigate the sound of countless branches snapping. It also led her the the boy, surrounded by the newly snapped branches, covered in blood. At first she panicked.

"Um, um...first, the ambulance!" she had exclaimed, digging through her pockets for the cell phone that was bought earlier that week.

However, the boy stopped her. "Don't," he said weakly. "I can't go to the hospital."

"Eh?" She froze, having just found the phone. "But—"

"Don't!" he repeated, more forceful than before. He immediately regretted it after seeing the tears forming in the corner of her eyes. "I'm...sorry, but don't."

She rubbed her eyes and nodded in understanding. "Then what do I do?"

At first, the boy didn't have an answer. After all, she was just a child no older than ten.

Think. Think! He told himself this over and over again. His survival depended on it.

And then he finally opened his mouth. "What do you have with you?"

"Um..." She dug through her backpack. "A book, some band-aids, and a scarf." She placed each of the items on the ground. The scarf was white, and the boy raised an eyebrow while looking at the red scarf already around her neck. "It was a friend's. She gave it to me to give to my younger sister," she explained, accurately guessing what he was wondering.

"Hand me the scarf," he requested, outstretching his hand despite the pain. The folded bundle of cloth was placed in his hand. While still in his hand, the scarf was cut into thin strips of cloth by an invisible force.

The girl's eyes widened in amazed as she was handed back the cloth.

"Use those as bandages," he ordered, cutting off any questions she might have asked. With difficulty, he took off his shirt and turned around, showing the bleeding, vertical gashes on his back. He heard the girl gasp. He knew it was an ugly and repulsive sight, especially for a child to see. However, he knew that he was going to die of blood loss if nothing was done.

As the sun started to sink behind the horizon, she finished putting band-aids on the smaller cuts on the boy. His hand moved to retrieve his shirt, only to stop to examine the damage done to it. What was once a white shirt was now red from blood. A large portion of the back had been ripped off. Other small rips were scattered around, caused by the branches when he fell through them. He deemed the shirt unsalvable and left it on the ground.

After much deliberation, the boy finally threw away his pride and thanked the girl. "Thank you..."

"I'm Ayano," she introduced. "And you're very welcome." She smiled now that she thought him to be out of danger.

"Well, Ayano, you should go back home. Your family will be worried." He saw the disappointment in her eyes. Clearly the girl had expected him to say his name as well.

"Okay. Are you going to be okay?"

"If you're so worried, then why don't you come back another time to check?" he said without thinking.

Ayano beamed. "I will, Angel-san."

At her retreating form, the boy shouted, "Don't call me that! My name is Shintaro!"

The girl stopped, looked back, and smiled. "Nice to meet you, Shintaro-san."

Moments later, after looking back, Shintaro realised that not only did he just permit the girl to come back again, but he also told her his name.

"For someone with an IQ of 168, you sure are an idiot," he muttered to himself, burying his face in his hands.

Since then, the girl came regularly to check up on him and change his bandages. She never asked about what had happened, to his relief.

In truth, Shintaro was an angel. However, he had been thrown out of the realms of the angels and was left with one injured wing and a half of a wing. If only that had never happened...

"Ahem." A soft cough brought him out of his musings. Shintaro looked to his left at a girl with blue hair styled in twin tails, wearing a blue jersey and a black skirt. She hovered a few inches above the ground and was somewhat transparent. In other words, she was what humans commonly referred to as a ghost.

"What do you want, Ene?" Shintaro asked.

"Nothing much. I was just thinking that Master is awfully pitiful for an angel. Usually it's the humans who have to rely on angels, not the other way around, right?" the ghost said.

"Shut up. I don't like it either," the boy grumbled.

The story of Shintaro's meeting with Ene was no where near as dramatic as the one with Ayano. She was wandering the city when she spotted him with his wings out. She decided to stick around since he was interesting and could actually see and hear her. That was it.

Unfortunately, one of Ene's favorite pasttimes was to cause trouble. Thankfully the methods of troublemaking were limited because of her lack of a body. Unfortunately, that did not stop her from screaming in Shintaro's ear during random times or just talking his head off.

Sometimes, Shintaro wondered if he was going to go insane before he found a way back to the angels' realm. The unexpected trip to the human world was off to a not-so great start.

^i^

Merry Christmas if it is still Dec 25 in your timezone. If not, then Merry late Christmas. I'm not dead and I managed to write a chapter. My excuse is either writers' block or laziness. I'm very sorry. I'll try to write something for Code Names and Re: Lost Time, but I can't make any promises.

But enough about that. I hope you enjoyed this story. Feel free to point out any errors, no matter how minor. And some constructive criticism would be nice too.


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